Days after Martinez is fired, Chicago Board of Education members participate in CTU contract negotiations

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CHICAGO – Three days after vote to fire the school district’s CEO, Chicago Board of Education members on Monday took the extraordinary step of participating in contract negotiations between the district and the Chicago Teachers Union.

The attorney for Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez responded with a letter demanded board members cease and desist from participating in negotiations, describing it as “unlawful interference” with Martinez’s authority.

The back-and-forth shows how the vote to oust Martinez has taken the power struggle over the nation’s fourth-largest school district into a new, more public phase.

It could also signal that Mayor Brandon Johnson and his handpicked school board feel a sense of urgency — and perhaps see an opportunity — to get a deal done.

The union previously called for an agreement before Christmas. Negotiations started eight months ago and has become increasingly tense.

Board members Olga Bautista and Frank Thomas attended the proceedings in the morning, and Board President Sean Harden attended in the afternoon, according to Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman Mary Ann Fergus.

Harden told Chalkbeat that the board members attended on their own, without direction from the mayor, to “observe and be part of the support” for CPS.

“I, along with the other board members, thought it was incredibly important for our team to feel supported,” he said, adding that they would “make sure the conversations continue.”

The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment, and CPS did not share Martinez’s thoughts on board members’ participation. But according to two sources who have spoken to the CEO, Martinez was “surprised” to hear board members plan to join the talks.

Typically, contract negotiations are left to bargaining teams from the district administration and the union.

CTU Vice President Jackson Potter wrote on social media that it was the first time board members have participated in the negotiations since the negotiations in 2012 were winding down, when the then chairman of the board David Vitale participated. Potter wrote that members attended to help “both sides reach an agreement.”

Contract negotiations 2012 led to a strike that attracted national attention. A former board member who served at Vitale described the context on condition of anonymity because he did not receive the necessary approval from his employer to speak to the media. He said Vitale joined the negotiations at “a very tense moment” because he was directed to do so by then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel and then-CPS CEO Jean Claude Brizard. Before then, neither he nor his fellow members were involved in negotiations, the former board member said.

“What is the function of a board? It is generally to provide oversight and accountability and management of management,” he said. “The board is not management.”

A board member sat in on negotiations for at least one other instance, also during labor market disputes. Board member Miguel Del Valle attended ahead of the union’s 2019 strike.

Martinez — who was not present at Friday’s hearing — continues to oversee the district because his contract stipulates that he must stay for six months if he is fired without cause, which is the route board members took. The resolution for Martinez’s firing says the board wants to change his powers, but does not specify how. Martinez said after Friday’s vote that he didn’t know what the board had in mind, but he encouraged reporters to “get to know” his attorney.

Martinez has clashed with Johnsona former CTU organizer and remaining close ally, on how to pay for the union’s contract demands and $175 million in pension liabilities the city wants to shift to CPS. He has opposed the mayor’s proposal for CPS to take out a short-term loan to pay for employment contracts and pension obligations. Amid that tension, the former Board of Education — mostly appointed by Johnson — resigned en masse in October.

The negotiations have become increasingly tense since then Johnson asked Martinez to step down this fall. The union’s initial 700-plus proposal package has been whittled down in recent weeks in an effort to close a deal. Current demands include a 6% raise in the first year of the contract, the hiring of additional staff over the term of the contract and more preparation time for primary school teachers – a problem the city’s principals’ association has dealt with.

The union believes its demands will add critical support to schools and enhance protection for LGBTQ and immigrant students after President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

CPS has not outlined how it will pay for the contract in the next fiscal year. District leaders have expressed concern about the potential costs, pointing to a projected $500 million deficit next year before the cost of labor negotiations.

Johnson will not have sole control over who sits on the board for much longer. Ten members elected by voters in November will take their seats on Jan. 15, joining 11 Johnson appointees. Johnson have chosen 10 people for the board for the time being. The board will be fully elected in 2027, when Johnson is up for election.

Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at [email protected].